[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

It's the American rival to these two battleships above was still in service about 25-30 years back .

And the next Queen is the grande old Miss of the USN :-)

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

And the next Queen is the grande old Miss of the USN :-)

Same class of ship, but a different one, it's USS Iowa.

[ChiragM]

The only 1:200 plane model I have:





Emirates Boeing 777-300ER

Picked it up at Emirates store in Dubai airport.

Love this plane, especially in this livery.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by ChiragM

The only 1:200 plane model I have:

Emirates Boeing 777-300ER

Picked it up at Emirates store in Dubai airport.

Love this plane, especially in this livery.

Thank you for sharing. Every great collection started with one aircraft :-). One the car model thread - please post close ups of your collector's 1:18s

[skanchan95]

1:72 F-4D Phantom II - 66-7463 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing , 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron,Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base , 1972

An extremely proud addition to my collection. USAF McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 66-7463. This jet was flown by Capt Richard Stephen "Steve" Ritchie & his WSO- Capt. Charles Barbin "Chuck" DeBellevue when they achieved MiG kills on May 10, 1972 (MiG-21 with an AIM-7) & August 28, 1972 (MiG-21 with an AIM-7).













The two USAF MiG killer F-4s in my collection:




Ritchie joined Navy Commander Randy "Duke" Cunningham as the only two pilots (along with three WSOs) among the five American aces during the Vietnam War. Ritchie ended up with 5 kills and DeBellevue with 6 kills. The two achieved four kills while flying together.



Dogfights episode detailing Ritchie & DeBellevue's 3rd & 4th kills( flying F-4E 67-0362, Callsign : Paula 01) on July 8, 1972( Fast forward to 26:02)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62fIyD5ag_c

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by ChiragM

The only 1:200 plane model I have:


Emirates Boeing 777-300ER

All collections start with the first one

I have the same exact model and also the same aircraft in Diecast.

Originally Posted by skanchan95

1:72 F-4D Phantom II - 66-7463 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing , 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron,Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base , 1972

Another one in your fleet of US Air Force and Navy Aircraft, you soon will have a squadron of Phantoms and Hornets. I think you should add some Vietnamese Mig-21s with Phantom kill markings to your collection


Air France 1:200 Airbus A320 officially licensed model sold by the airline. Despite being an economy plastic model its still pretty detailed.
Narayan I think this will match nicely with your Air France 787.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

1:72 F-4D Phantom II - 66-7463 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing , 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron,Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base , 1972

An extremely proud addition to my collection. USAF McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 66-7463. This jet was flown by Capt Richard Stephen "Steve" Ritchie & his WSO- Capt. Charles Barbin "Chuck" DeBellevue when they achieved MiG kills on May 10, 1972 (MiG-21 with an AIM-7) & August 28, 1972 (MiG-21 with an AIM-7).
Ritchie joined Navy Commander Randy "Duke" Cunningham as the only two pilots (along with three WSOs) among the five American aces during the Vietnam War. Ritchie ended up with 5 kills and DeBellevue with 6 kills. The two achieved four kills while flying together.

Excellent model with some real meaningful detail. Thanks for those close up photos and the factoids of history. With its two powerful engines and large wing the Phantom had all the factors going for it and eventually matured into a great great multi-role fighter. In some ways the first real MRCA. Hornets, Phantoms and Tomcats - how many of these do you have now.

Originally Posted by Foxbat

I think you should add some Vietnamese Mig-21s with Phantom kill markings to your collection

Foxbat, your handle suggests that honour should lie with you!!

Air France 1:200 Airbus A320 officially licensed model sold by the airline. Despite being an economy plastic model its still pretty detailed.
Narayan I think this will match nicely with your Air France 787.

Yes it looks from the same family of manufacturers as the 787. I think we have a race on between your A320s+737s versus skanchan95's Hornets and Tomcats. Or am I mixing things up again.

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Yes it looks from the same family of manufacturers as the 787. I think we have a race on between your A320s+737s versus skanchan95's Hornets and Tomcats. Or am I mixing things up again.

I have 5 planes and one ship model to pickup from a trip to the US in June, after that I promise not to buy any more models for a long time (at least for a few months )

[V.Narayan]

Hawker Hart bi-plane fighter; Corgi; 1:72; diecast

Model is about 5” long and has a wingspan of about 6”

The Hawker Hart was one of the early designs of the legendary Sir Sydney Camm, Hawkers chief design leader. His other legendary designs are the Hurricane, Hunter and Harrier, not to mention Tempest, Fury, Typhoon and Seahawk. Aircraft he designed had a gross production run of ~26,000. The Hart was the standard RAF fighter of its time – 1930 to mid-1930s and served on in the fringes of the empire till ~1940. It served through different variants as a day fighter, light bomber, naval fighter, night bomber and army co-operation. A few even served with the fledgling IAF. After the Hart came the Gloster Gladiator the ultimate bi-plane by when monoplanes with retractable carriages, oxygen masks and 360 mph speeds took over. The Hart was one of the first, if not the first RAF aircraft to be made largely of duralumin (the then new wonder light weight metal alloy), aluminium and steel with fabric covering only in parts.

Speed: ~160 knots [~300 kmph]
Range: ~700 kms
Powerplant: Rolls Royce V12, 22 litre water cooled Kestrel developing 510 shp
Armament: Late versions -- One .303 inch machine gun firing through the props and one .303 in the rear seat manned by the observer covering the rear arc.


Good detailing including the pilot, wing struts, wire braces...


Bi-plane wings, two were needed to generate the necessary lift in early designs when aerofoil design was in its infancy


Front view with the twin blade prop and large radiator slung under the engine. Early engines simply did not turn out enough shp and torque to justify a three or four blade propeller.


Hawker Hart (centre) early generation 1930 inter-war bi-plane fighter with one machine gun, open cockpit and high drag fixed landing gear - 300 kmph
Gladiator (left) ultimate bi-plane fighter, 1936 - enclosed cockpit for improving pilot effectiveness, streamlined but still fixed landing gear and 4 machine guns - 400 kmph
P-51D Mustang (right) - late WW2 fighter - monoplane, all metal construction, retractable gear, enclosed, armoured cockpit with oxygen & radio and 6 machine guns & air-to-ground rockets- 700 kmph


xxx

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Hawker Hart bi-plane fighter; Corgi; 1:72; diecast



xxx

Very detailed and goes well with your collection from the era.

I was wondering why there are no roundels on top of the wings like in almost every military aircraft?

One advantage of the open cockpit would easy bail out. Since there were no ejection seats the pilots had to push the canopy out physically which would be difficult to do in a damaged or out of control aircraft.

[V.Narayan]

Vickers Viscount 800 China State Airlines 1:200; Hobby Master

Model is about 5” in length and wingspan

The Vickers Viscount was the world’s first turbo-prop engine commercial aircraft and the most successful British airliner ever. It was designed by the legendary Sir George Edwards whose other creations were the Vickers VC10 four-engine jet airliner, Vickers Valiant jet bomber and the aborted TSR-2 strategic strike aircraft.

The Chinese order for 6 Viscount 800s were the first Chinese order for western aircraft and the last order for the Viscount. Because of this uniqueness I was keen on picking this livery. The livery is of the Civil Aviation Administration of China which was the Chinese state airline (and civil regulator) till 1988. The Viscount 800 was the lengthened version normally seating 60 and up to 71 in high density. Before this had come the short body Viscount 700 which saw service with Indian Airlines and before that with the IAF in 1957 as a VIP transport for PM Nehru and other dignitaries.

Early jet engines while powerful were not fuel efficient. So a mid-path solution was found by Rolls Royce wherein the hot energized efflux of gases hurtling through the rear exhaust were fed through a power extraction turbine that in turn spun a four-blade conventional propeller in the front. This gave the smoothness and high power ranges a jet turbine could provide with the fuel efficiency of a prop. Turbo-prop power gave passengers a smooth and relatively quiet ride and freedom from the intense vibrations and noise of the piston engine airliners of the 1950s.

Till the 1950s the British aeronautical industry was a world leader and actually led the way with many innovations which the Americans copied and did better on - first turbo-prop engine, first turbo-prop airliner, first jet airliner and so on. Sadly a small home market along with a ostrich like attitude of BOAC and BEA killed the British airliner industry. The VC-10 in many ways was the equal of the 707 but never got the chance.

Length: 86’
Wing Span: 94’
Engines: 4 Rolls Royce Dart turbo-props generating 1990 shp each on take-off
All up Weight: 32,000 kgs for the final marks
Capacity: 60 passengers normally
Cruising speed: ~550 kmph
Range: ~ 1900 kms effective with reserves
Entry to service: 1953
Number built: 446


11 o'clock view showing to good effect the slim low drag engine nacelles and wing design. Also the cockpit forehead mound can be seen made such so that the cockpit was ergonomically designed. This aircraft was one of the earliest designed around pilot ergonomics.


A beautiful top down view showing the wing planform. Note the paddle propellers which was relatively new and more efficient than the round tip props common at the time.


13 large windows - 13 rows - 52 or 65 seats. Those days we had the civil practice of a seat row per window so everyone got a clear view. Today in the pursuit of economics we have smaller closely spaced windows not aligned to seat rows.



Take off followed by a gentle climb

Originally Posted by Foxbat

I was wondering why there are no roundels on top of the wings like in almost every military aircraft?

Interesting observation. I had not caught it. The roundels are painted at the bottom and the sides. Not sure why not on the top. Could it be Corgi ran out of paint!!

My reviews on both aircraft can be found on the sites of Corgi-Hornby for the Hawker Hart and diecastairplanes for the Viscount

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Vickers Viscount 800 China State Airlines 1:200; Hobby Master



My reviews on both aircraft can be found on the sites of Corgi-Hornby for the Hawker Hart and diecastairplanes for the Viscount

Another unique addition to your already very diverse collection. While Skanchan and I seem to be buying more of the same aircraft models again and again you like variety

How long did your order from Diecastairplane take to arrive in India? Also I checked the website and did not see any reviews by buyers.

How long does an order from Corgi-Hornby take to arrive in India and what are the shipping expenses? and are you charged 42% customs duty always?

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Another unique addition to your already very diverse collection. While Skanchan and I seem to be buying more of the same aircraft models again and again you like variety

I like buying one of a kind and then like skanchan95 try to pick a tailfin number or airline that had a history of some kind or was unique for a reason - don't always succeed but I try. Several collectors follow your path of collecting several liveries and variants of the same aircraft.

How long did your order from Diecastairplane take to arrive in India? How long does an order from Corgi-Hornby take to arrive in India and what are the shipping expenses?

Delivery time is 2 weeks from order for both. Corgi parcel cost was GBP 36 for a model costing GBP35 and weighing 500 grammes with the box. Our enthusiastic customs levied 42% on total cost of goods+courier like a CIF invoice value. It was a hiss and curse moment. The diecastairplanes freight ex-USA was USD 94 for a total of 3 models weighing I think 2 kgs. Fortunately in this case the customs+IGST was levied only on the actual invoice value. All very expensive. As you have an address in USA don't waste your money on this.

Also I checked the website and did not see any reviews by buyers.

They may be filtering reviews before releasing them. That has been my past experience.

Some more photos to savour...

[V.Narayan]

Douglas DC-6B; long-range 4-engine piston airliner; 1:200 scale; Herpa

Length of model ~6”; Wingspan ~7”

Along with the Lockheed L749 the Douglas DC-6 pioneered long-range over-water passenger air travel in the late 1940s and 1950s. While the Lockheed 749 Constellation was more beautiful to look at and clearly had more glamour it was the DC-6 that ultimately proved the more reliable and long lasting with several dozen of the 704 built serving into the 1990s 50 years after the prototype flew.

Length: 106’
Wingspan: 115’
Engines: Four Double Wasp 18-cylinder air-cooled radials each developing 2100 shp
Passengers: 56 to 90; typical for the 1950s was 42 to 60 often with some as sleeper beds
Cruising speed: ~500 kmph
Practical range with reserves: ~4500 to 4800 kms with a full payload

UAT was a French airline serving Africa. It later morphed into UTA which in turn merged with Air France in the 1990s. I picked UAT as it was one of the first airlines to open up long distance air travel to and from Africa.


Douglas DC-6B


Note the straight lines of the fuselage and wings. Douglas pioneered the now common practise of building many length variants of the same aircraft to cater to different load requirements. Douglas also used essentially the same wing across three very different aircraft the DC-4, the DC-6 and the DC-7. They progressively kept lengthening the same aerofoil by adding wing root inserts. This was possible in days of unswept wings but less so today

Note how close to the airframe the inner props are. Douglas used over 600 kilos of fibre glass and mica to deaden the engine noise inside the cabin. Remember these are four 2100 hp unsilenced pistons roaring only a few metres away from the passengers. Those are 13 foot Hamilton props – fully feathering, constant speed. As the phrase goes the props ran at the same RPM. When more power was delivered by the engines the angle at which the props cut the air was changed to absorb the extra energy. This made for more efficient prop designs.


Landing gear and polished underside


Sleeper berths….


High quality of detail. Good for Herpa. Along with the Lockheed 749 Constellation the DC-6 was the first pressurized and air-conditioned airliner. From a mechanical engineering point of view this was more complex than any other innovation. It maintained a pressure of equivalent to 8000' up to its cruising altitude of 25,000'. Interestingly most airliners even today stay with the 8000' norm.


The original

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Douglas DC-6B; long-range 4-engine piston airliner; 1:200 scale; Herpa

Very beautiful model and very detailed. The metallic finish is very realistic. I had not heard about this aircraft before, the Conti I guess is the more famous passenger aircraft of this era.

Did you buy this one online from some Herpa dealer ?